LATIN AMERICA
with the Human Rights Public Policy Institute of Mercado
Común del Sur (MERCOSUR) on legal issues related to the
human rights of migrant children and refugees.
Cooperation with IOM and dialogue with the institutions
of the Central American Integration System was aimed at
addressing protection in mixed migratory movements and
humanitarian-related issues, while UNHCR’s participation
in the Regional Conference on Migration (Puebla Process)
focused on mixed migration and refugees. UNHCR also gave
its support to the resolutions on refugees, IDPs, stateless
persons and mixed migration that were approved during the
OAS General Assembly held in El Salvador.
Constraints
While Latin American countries have strong regional and
national instruments for the protection of persons of
concern to UNHCR, challenges still remained. The
growing concerns of States as to their national security
have continued to threaten protection. Deficiencies were
again apparent in identification and referral mechanisms
for persons in need of international protection within
mixed migration movements. Other problems included low
recognition rates; inconsistent RSD systems; restrictive
practices such as the establishment of pre-admissibility
procedures; high levels of violence; and human trafficking.
The effective implementation of existing legal frameworks
thus continued to be a challenge across the region.
More than 70 per cent of the total refugee population in
Latin America live in urban areas, where competition for
scarce resources is high. The local integration of resettled
refugees was jeopardized by lack of access to housing and
employment. As voluntary repatriation was not a viable
option for most refugees in the subregion, local integration
needed to be strengthened, especially for the most
vulnerable. Another problem refugees have identified is
their discrimination based on race or national origin.
Operations
Operations in
and
are described in
separate country chapters.
The Regional Office in Buenos Aires covers Argentina,
the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and
Uruguay. Standard operating procedures for SGBV were
introduced in Argentina, Bolivia and Uruguay, and soon in
Paraguay. Achievements in southern Latin America
included the adoption of refugee legislation and regulations
in Chile, where the Government has increased assistance to
refugees and asylum-seekers.
As part of its local integration strategy in
, UNHCR
supported the consolidation of the Refugee State
Committees in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, and the
establishment of a Refugee and Migrants State Committee in
Rio Grande do Sul.
In Central America (
and
) UNHCR worked with Governments and with
other UN agencies to establish protection systems for
children, especially unaccompanied minors. UNHCR and
its partners continued to provide legal support to
asylum-seekers and refugees.
Budget and expenditure in Latin America | USD
Country
Argentina Regional Office
Brazil
Colombia
Costa Rica
1
PILLAR 1
PILLAR 2
PILLAR 4
Refugee
programme
Stateless
programme
IDP
projects
Budget
5,689,938
188,018
0
5,877,956
Expenditure
3,944,212
125,344
0
4,069,556
Budget
4,762,519
0
0
4,762,519
Expenditure
3,612,778
0
0
3,612,778
Budget
891,090
0
32,567,240
33,458,330
Expenditure
869,021
0
16,209,445
17,078,466
2,388,301
0
0
2,388,301
Expenditure
1,844,640
0
0
1,844,640
Budget
21,638,637
0
0
21,638,637
Expenditure
11,368,334
0
0
11,368,334
Budget
2,032,649
0
0
2,032,649
Budget
Ecuador
Mexico
1,634,431
0
0
1,634,431
Budget
6,640,295
0
0
6,640,295
Expenditure
3,568,476
0
0
3,568,476
Budget
8,177,382
0
0
8,177,382
3,856,484
0
0
3,856,484
52,220,811
188,018
32,567,240
84,976,069
30,698,376
125,344
16,209,445
47,033,165
Expenditure
Panama Regional Office
Venezuela (Bolivarian
Republic of)
2
Expenditure
Total budget
Total expenditure
1
2
Total
Includes activities in the Plurinational State of Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay.
Includes the Regional Legal Unit in Costa Rica.
UNHCR Global Report 2011
341